The Men and Women Who Run British Land

LONDON -- Management can make all the difference to a company's success and thus its share price.

The best companies are those run by talented and experienced leaders with strong vested interests in the success of the business, held in check by a board with sound financial and business acumen. Some of the worst investments to hold are those run by executives collecting fat rewards as the underlying business goes to pot.

In this series, I'm assessing the boardrooms of companies within the FTSE 100 (UKX). I hope to separate the management teams that are worth following from those that are not. Today I am looking at British Land (ISE: BLDN.L) , the U.K.'s second-largest REIT.

Here are the key directors:

Director

Position

Chris Gibson-Smith

(non-exec) Chairman

Chris Grigg

Chief Executive

Lucinda Bell

Finance Director

Stephen Smith

Chief Investment Officer

Tim Roberts

Head of Offices

Charles Maudsley

Head of Retail

British Land's 13-strong board has no less than five executive directors.

Chris Gibson-Smith joined the board in 2003 and became chairman in 2007. He is also chairman of the London Stock Exchange, a post he has held since 2003. His executive career was spent at BP leaving in 2001 after 31 years. He acted temporarily as executive chairman of British Land in 2008 when CEO Stephen Hester was poached to run RBS.

CEO Chris Grigg is a former investment banker who spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs, followed by Barclays, where he was group treasurer from 2005 to 2007 (running the department responsible for the bank's libor submissions), and later chief executive of U.K. business banking, leaving to take up his appointment at British Land in January 2009.

Balance sheetJoining at the low point of the property cycle, Grigg shored up British Land's balance sheet with a rights issue and asset disposals. The shares have lost 7% during his tenure, but that's better than nearest rival Land Securities, which has lost 16%. His 1 million pound golden hello paid out last year, which also saw his remuneration increased by 50%.

A former accountant working for British Land's auditor, Lucinda Bell joined the company in 1991 and became finance director in 2011.

Stephen Smith and Charles Maudsley were recruited by Chris Grigg in 2009 to strengthen the board's real estate experience. Smith was well regarded as the global head of real estate asset management at AXA, whilst Maudsley was European co-head of LaSalle Investment Management. Tim Roberts is an older hand, joining the company in 1997 and the board in 2006.

The seven non-execs are drawn from the retail, property, banking, and finance worlds, and include former cabinet secretary Lord Turnbull.

I analyze management teams from five different angles to work out a verdict. Here's my assessment:

Buffett's favorite FTSE shareLet me finish by adding that legendary investor Warren Buffett has always looked for impressive management teams when pinpointing which shares to buy. So I think it's important to tell you that the billionaire stock-picker has recently acquired a substantial stake in a prominent FTSE 100 company.

And Mr Buffett, don't forget, rarely invests outside his native United States, which to my mind makes this British blue chip -- and its management -- all the more attractive. So why not download the report today? It's totally free and comes with no further obligation.